here we go again , another lame excuse for bumping up the prices , away back in the 20s and 30s when we had real poverty , those who were desperate for a drink managed to get one no matter what , its still the same in this day and age , those who are desperate will do what they can for a booze up , so look out for a big rise in muggings, shop theft, and burglaries so that means to cover this we will have price rises to cover the losses and insurance hikes for the same reason, but our politicians will not be affected they will just bang it onto the old expense sheet as usual and will anything be done , you have guessed it NOWT.

Unfortunately, the ASBO's drink of choice in Scotland, Buckfast would not be affected by minimum alcohol pricing even at 50p per unit. The alcohol content is 15% so a 75 cl bottle would have 11.25 units of alcohol. At 50p a unit it would cost £5.62 under minimum pricing. As I believe it already sells for about £6-7 minimum pricing would have no effect.

Thanks pumps100.... your arithmetic is better than mine!!

So I dont get it now because if its not going tackle the real problem drinkers in our area then what is the point of it really. I agreee with enrique. The poor and the ones who are desperate are always going to find some way of getting what they think they need. Most of them sit in their house and drink but what harm are they doing except to themselves.... and probably because they think they have nothing else better to do. If your poor and you know it in this society then what else have you got going for you but to look forward to a good cheap drink.... at least that is something you can look forward to and whose to say that this is wrong??

... If your poor and you know it in this society then what else have you got going for you but to look forward to a good cheap drink.... at least that is something you can look forward to and whose to say that this is wrong??

You might be right - like white cider. The new 'methadone' for alcoholics! They can just sit at home drinking from those big plastic bottles causing no harm to anybody but themselves.

Here's some stuff which is from Alcohol Concern regarding cider - huge bottles with your weekly recommended dose in one convenient bottle and all for the cost of a pint.

QUOTE

It may be cheap, but white cider, the drink of choice for many homeless alcoholics, commands big profits.

A new report by the charity Alcohol Concern suggests profit margins on white cider are significantly fatter than those on other alcoholic drinks, thanks in part to tax breaks designed to help traditional British cider makers.

Cans of brands such as White Ace, Carbon White and White Star sell for as little as 59p. "It's because it's so cheap and it has a very quick effect on you," said Gordon Cowper, 52, a recovering alcoholic who now works for the homelessness charity Thames Reach in London.

"Most drinks are quite hard to drink, like whisky and stuff like that. With cider, you put a little bit of lemonade in it with the first one and then you can start knocking it back."

Many said they believed the drink produced far more stomach problems than other forms of alcohol. Several described a burning sensation as they drank the cider.

Jeremy Swain, chief executive of Thames Reach, said: "You see techniques like when they [white cider drinkers] drink out of a can, they'll pierce a hole in the end to release the gas and down it very quickly as the lack of bubbles means a quicker hit to the brain. It bears a likeness to that of a heroin addict who will inject into the groin because it produces the fastest effect."

Minimum alcohol pricing was widely covered in the English press today, partly because David Cameron is looking at it for the rest of Britain (the Tories and Lib Dems support the SNP policy in Scotland), and, if you believe the Daily Mail, because the English expect marauding hordes of Jocks to storm over the border in search of cheap cider!

QUOTE

Independent: Sam Bowman, head of research at economic think tank the Adam Smith Institute, was scathing of the charge, branding it "a miserable, Victorian-era measure that explicitly targets the poor and the frugal, leaving the more expensive drinks of the middle classes untouched".

He said: "It's regressive and paternalistic, treating people as if they're children to be nannied by the Government."

Britons "drink less than we did 10 years ago, less than we did 100 years ago and far less than we did in the 19th century".

Mr Bowman said: "Hysteria about drinking alcohol is a red herring invented by the health lobby. Health fascism is back with a vengeance and minimum alcohol pricing is just another brick in the wall."

QUOTE

Guardian: While the Scottish pub trade and some brewers who specialise in premium brands support minimum pricing, the measure is opposed by the large retailers and the spirits industry. The Scotch Whisky Association again warned that minimum pricing was likely to be illegal, breaching European and global rules on free trade and competition. The SWA said it would push the cost of one litre bottle of Scotch up by 22% to £20, and a standard bottle up by 11% to £14.

Gavin Hewitt, the SWA's chief executive, said: "The Scotch whisky industry remains opposed to the principle of minimum unit pricing. It will be ineffective in tackling alcohol misuse. It has consistently been ruled to be illegal in Europe. It will damage the industry."

QUOTE

Daily Mail: This minimum price meddling by politicians is futile. Northern Europeans are prone to binge-drinking in a way that southern Europeans are not. Ask the Scandinavians! Alcohol is massively expensive there, yet alcoholism remains a serious problem. It's part of a culture that also - as a useful sideline - gives us gloomy but engrossing detective series, such as The Killing, Wallender and The Bridge. If minimum pricing of alcohol can help Scotland create a better contribution to the detective TV series genre than Taggart, all well and good, but I doubt it'll have any other effect than to make life more difficult for the poor, give a boost to smuggling and lead to a drunken invasion of England which will do the reputation of Scots and Scotland no good at all.

just been watching the news, apparently the price increase is not a tax and wont be going to the Government it will be going to the retailers. So the SNP are taking a leaf out of the Conservatives Book and helping the Rich Drinks Companies increase their profits and shafting the poor, disabled and pensioners who are on a fixed income and can hardly afford alcohol as it is. Just reported on reporting Scotland, 2 liters of Cider, now £1.89 to be £5.00. Vodka now 14.63 for a liter to be £18.75Wine 2.98 a bottle to be £4.50 a Bottle. Buckfast no change and reporting Scotland said No Change for Gin or Whisky. Three guesses what they drink in Hollyrood?. I do hope that when the SNP realise that the amount of muggings rises drastically that it's their fault as the "alcokids" will be out there getting money for their alcohol needs. WTG SNP shafted the poor again caused a high probability iof an increase in crime and now just as bad as the Conservatives.

... no change and reporting Scotland said No Change for Gin or Whisky. Three guesses what they drink in Hollyrood?. .

I watched Reporting Scotland as well. It was no change for branded spirits such as Gordon's gin and Famous Grouse whisky. And no change for the price of drink in the pubs as drinks in a pub exceed the 50p a unit cost.

Supermarket own label spirits such as Tesco Value Vodka at £9.29 will disappear from the shelves.

With regard to the £2.98 wine ex Asda, currently the duty is £1.90 on a bottle of wine (under 15% ABV) and you pay 20% VAT on the selling price. So, in this example there is 48p left to cover the cost of the wine, the bottle, shipping, profit - it makes you wonder what sort of wine it is!

Some commentators have put forward the view that due to the vast number of unpopular policies implemented by the Coalition that one term is all it will run and I think there is a lot of credence in this.Re the SNP Ive got a feeling that this minimum unit price may well do for them because it appears that the people who are going to be hit are responsible drinkers ,probably voters who will not forget.My personal view is that the SNP have done well for Scotland and will continue to do so but I think this policy will backfire.

SNP Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon will tomorrow announce that Scotland is to adopt a 50p-per-unit minimum alcohol price. The measure is intended to tackle problem drinking by increasing the cost of cheap vodka, lager and cider. The 50p figure is higher than the original 45p proposed by ministers two years ago, and is rumoured to have caused a split within the Scottish cabinet. ...

The only way I see to curb the Alcohol Drinking Is to take the sale of it away from the Supermarkets and corner shops and let the Publicans have the say who can buy.

I think this is fantastic news. Why should I, as a tax payer, plough a fortune into the treatment of those who choose to abuse alcohol? Or why should I be afraid to walk down a city centre street of an evening because of tanked-up neds who are out of their minds on cheap swally?

Some commentators have put forward the view that due to the vast number of unpopular policies implemented by the Coalition that one term is all it will run and I think there is a lot of credence in this.Re the SNP Ive got a feeling that this minimum unit price may well do for them because it appears that the people who are going to be hit are responsible drinkers ,probably voters who will not forget.My personal view is that the SNP have done well for Scotland and will continue to do so but I think this policy will backfire.

Hi Jupiter,

I was surprised at the Scottish Government coming at this with the Minimum Alcohol Price (MAP) set at 50p. Most people believed that 45p per unit was in the right order. Cameron's government were looking at 40-45p.

Just a thought. They say it will not be implemented until the summer of 2013. By that time we will have most probably had excise duty in the budget plus retail price inflation. So the prices in 2013 will be higher anyway. They'll be getting everyone used to the idea of the 50p minimum alcohol price. Then nearer the time, I would put a small wager on the Scottish Government trying to play the good guy, especially at politically sensitive times - by announcing that 'they have listened to the people', and with all due fanfare state that the 50p minimum alcohol unit price is being decreased to 45p. Party on!

Its better than doing nothing, alcohol abuse is much worse than it has ever been, especially with teenagers and young adults. It can distroy their lives before they have even started, anyone who has been in our city and town centres at closing time can see results of cheap booze. It doesn't have to be this way, so up the price, increase health education, and set good examples to the young..

In the interests of fairness, I should like to highlight the following paragraph from the Guardian article mentioned above:

QUOTE

[...] After resisting it for four years, Scottish Labour is also preparing to support the [Minimum Alcohol Price] policy if Alex Salmond's government presses on with plans for a £130m "health levy" on supermarkets to claw back the £125m increase in their revenues from a 50p minimum price. [...]

Just what the supermarket lobby will have to say about the combined 'health levy' and 'Tesco Tax' denting their huge profits is easy to guess ... expect headlines of '10,000 Supermarket Job Losses' tomorrow!

--Off topic: Note how the Guardian routinely refers to the democratically-elected government of Scotland as "Alex Salmond's government" ... do these journalists really think we are daft?

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